Shigetaro Shimada

Shigetaro Shimada (24 September 1883-7 June 1976) was Minister of the Navy of Japan from October 1941 to July 1944, succeeding Koshiro Oikawa and preceding Naokuni Nomura.

Biography
Shigetaro Shimada was born on 24 September 1883 in Tokyo, Japan. He fought at the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War with the Imperial Japanese Navy, and during World War I he served as the military attache to Italy. By 1934 he was a Vice Admiral and commander of the Kure Naval District, China Area Fleet, and Yokosuka Naval District before being made Minister of the Navy in October 1941. He coordinated IJN operations with Imperial Japanese Army leader Hideki Tojo, but he was dismissed after many defeats during World War II, with the Battle of Saipan being the decisive blow. Shimada was sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States after the war's end, but he was released in 1955 and died in 1976.